Will Preachers Be Put On Trial Here?

Back in May 2014, Pastor James McConnell preached a sermon. Somewhere in this sermon he said “Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.” Nineteen months later Pastor McConnell is on trial in Belfast, Ireland.

Despite being a predominately Christian nation, Irish politics have passed a law in 2003 that is now being used in an attempt to silence preachers. Because of that sermon, delivered in the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle, he is being charged with “improper use of a public electronic communications network, and causing a grossly offensive message to be sent by means of a public electronic communications network.”

In all fairness to Pastor McConnell, he made these remarks in response to the reports of a Sudanese woman who had been sentenced to death for being a Christian. In Islamic countries it is a common practice to prosecute and even execute people who have converted to Christianity.

As United States citizens, we have been blessed with the God-given freedoms of speech and religions being acknowledged by our founding fathers in the Bill of Rights. We are not surprised that other countries are attempting to suppress Christianity by legal and even violent means.

In the United States, there has been a subtle movement to suppress Christian values since the 1960’s. There has also been a renewed interest in reinstating the FCC Fairness Doctrine which has been recently (in the 1980s) been used to suppress some talk radio before being eliminated in 1987.

I have a rhetorical question: when will such trials begin in the United States?

Jesus never said it will be easy following His ways. After all, Jesus said9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”